O papel das instituições arquivísticas no processo de recolhimento de documentos na administração pública: caso do Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the role of the Historical Archive of Mozambique in the collection of documents within the public administration. A qualitative methodology was employed, focusing on a descriptive and explanatory case study. Interviews were conducted with the Deputy Director of the Historical Archive of Mozambique and the head of the regional archives section. The research explored approaches related to the role that an archival institution should play in collecting documents from the public administration. The results indicated that, in the last two decades, the Historical Archive of Mozambique has not been effectively collecting documents due to structural and financial difficulties. This has resulted in documents remaining in the custody of producers, often unavailable for public access. It was also found that the Historical Archive of Mozambique has a significant amount of documents collected after national independence, a period during which the Mozambican state determined that all documentation prior to independence was of historical or permanent value. However, this initial collection did not follow appropriate technical criteria, leading to the loss of some documents during a process described as "wild collection".